SPOOF: NCAA passes new law to pay athletes

The National Collegiate Athletic Association passed down a new law that will see student-athletes from all three divisions get compensated for their performances. The new act is set to be in effect beginning on April 1.

The news came abruptly this Wednesday morning when President Mark Allen Emmert announced that he made a “tough” decision for all student-athletes in the NCAA.

“It wasn’t easy,” Emmert said at a breaking news conference aired on ESPN. “I spoke with every member on our board, and kept all parties involved in mind. We all came to the conclusion to pay every athlete in Division I, II and III, being effective immediately starting April 1.”

Emmert added that the new rule would compensate every single athlete equally in both gender and sport. This way male and female athletes won’t fight over why one gender gets paid more than the other, and why the NCAA favors one sport over the other.

Additionally, Emmert said the amount of compensation every athlete will receive is $2,000 thousand every semester the student-athlete participates in a sport.

The NCAA has more than 460,000 student-athletes competing in 24 sports every year. Which means the organization will spend nearly $1 million on compensating student-athletes every semester.

“This is great,” said Southern’s football wide receiver Devante Jenkins. “I’m in shock that the NCAA is actually going to pay us now. Now I can get paid doing the one thing I really enjoy.”

Jenkins noted that every student-athlete puts in countless hours of hard work in practice, the weight room and in games. He said it was “the least” the NCAA could have done, considering the hours he and the rest of the 460,000 student-athletes across the nation do on a day-to-day basis.

Likewise, Southern’s senior basketball forward, Jackie Beathea, said she is “very mad” that the NCAA decided to pass down a new law that will compensate student-athletes during her final year of collegiate basketball.

“Why couldn’t they do this my freshman year of college? Why now? They all of a sudden want to pay athletes when I’m already graduating,” Beathea said.

When the new law is in place this Friday on April 1, Beathea said she wants her part of the bargain from the four years she did college hoops.

“I want my eight thousand dollars,” Beathea said. “It’s only fair that I get paid too. The incoming freshman classes are the ones that are going to fully benefit from this new law. I did my time, where’s my money?”

Beathea wasn’t the only senior student-athlete that was upset, as Desmond Williams of Southern’s men’s basketball team, was disappointed to hear the NCAA made this new rule.

“Athletes already get full-scholarships to big time schools, so I don’t get why they did that. Getting a full-scholarship should be their compensation,” Williams said.

Williams added that if the NCAA is going to pay all athletes starting April 1, then they should also compensate all former athletes that played at the collegiate level too. Not leaving only benefiting the athletes that still have time before they graduate.

With the new law in place this Friday, student-athletes like Jenkins, were thrilled to hear that the NCAA will be compensating athletes. While others were upset to hear the NCAA did such a thing.

When the new act is in effect on April 1, one thing is for sure. Student-athletes can no longer complain about starving themselves to sleep. Like in the case former UConn guard Shabazz Napier.